Too Hot & Humid
As Earth continues warming, more of it will become too hot and humid for humans to survive very long. That portion now is very small - bits around the Persian Gulf and some other tropical coasts on some summer afternoons. But it will grow.
Heat stroke damages the brain & other organs. It kills 10% of victims. It often follows heat cramps, fainting, or heat exhaustion. U.S. heat stroke rates were highest in Arizona (1.7 deaths per 100,000), Nevada (1.0) and Missouri (0.8).
When conditions are too humid and hot, the body can no longer cool itself by sweating. Heat stroke can follow quickly.
Highest THI (95-100°F) is in S TX & E Baja. THI 90-95°F in FL panhandle, SE of Yuma AZ & 40% of TX. Some Category II (FL, some GA-AL-MS & AZ, most of TX), but no Category III (105-129°F) in the US this day. Category III (THI 105-115°F) ocurred after noon.
2023-24 Articles
Toll from Unremarkably Hot Days Exceeds Those from Very Hot Days 0424
Climate-Security Risks Are Too Hot to Handle for Australian Government 0524
The World’s Garment Workers Are on the Front Lines of Climate Impacts 0524
100s of 1,000s of Fish Die Off in Vietnam, as Heat Wave Roasts Southeast Asia 0524
Dangerous Heat Wave Envelops 100s of Millions in East Asia 0524
More Frequent Ocean Heat Waves Trigger Mass Die-Offs of Sea Life 0524
Bangkok Suffers Near-Record Temperatures, as Thailand’s Heat Death Toll Rises 0424
Heat-Related US E.R. Visits Rose in 2023 - CDC 0424
Extreme Heat Across East Asia and the Pacific Puts Millions of Children at Risk 0424
Extreme Heat Summit to Urge Leaders to Act on Threat from Rising Temperatures 0324
Extreme Heat at Work Can Double Stillbirth Risk, India Study Finds 0324
6 Months after the Heat Spiked, Caribbean Corals Are Still Reeling 0324
Florida Legislators Ban Local Heat Protections for Millions of Outdoor Workers 0324
Did a Marine Heat Wave Cause 7,000 Humpback Whales to Starve to Death? 0224
Extreme Heat Set to Increase Heart Attack, Stroke Deaths in US 1023
Miami-Dade County Could Create Strictest Workplace Heat Rules in US 1123
Climate Triage Means Some Cold Waters In Warming Great Lakes Won’t Be Saved 1023
Scorching Heat Caused Deaths to Double at Busiest US-Mexico Border Route 1023
Record Heat That Canceled Twin Cities Marathon Was Spiked by Climate Change 1023
More than 100 Dolphins Dead in Amazon as Water Hits 102°F 1023
American Football Season Is Getting Hotter. Young Players Are Dying. 0923
The Inequality of Heat, in India 0923
Extreme Heat Is Weakening Entire Marine ecosystems in Florida, Not Just Coral 0923
Extreme Heat Linked to Higher Risk of Life-Threatening Birthing Complications 0923
Phoenix Airport Workers File Safety Complaints, over Brutal Heat and Nausea 0923
Extreme Heat Forces Schools Across Northeastern U.S. to Close Early 0923
At U.S. Open, Stifling Heat Causes Some Tennis Players to Lose Their Cool 0923
Pakistan Is the Epicenter of a Global Wave of Climate Health Threats 0923
Amid Record Heat, Even Indoor Factory Workers Enter Dangerous Terrain 0823
Farmworkers Face Increasing Heat Waves with Little Protection 0823
Stifling Heat Spells Misery in Schools with No Air Conditioning 0823
Why Our Oceans Being the Warmest in Recorded History Is So Concerning 0823 - Marine life struggles with heat, its resulting oxygen loss, and acidification. Coral is especially hard hit. It also, via the warming-melting effects on Greenland and Antarctic ice, slows down Atlantic Ocean circulation, especially the AMOC and Gulf Stream. They may collapse by mid-century, slowly and possibly as soon as 2025. The warming also melts sea ice, a major feedback that further accelerates global warming.
Chronic Kidney Disease Poised to Become the Black Lung of Climate Change 0823 - Itis especially widespread among farmworkers, who labor long in the heat and humidity, without enough shade, breaks and drinking water.
Dying from Heat in Greece 0823
Extreme Heat Threatens Virtually Every Aspect of Human Health 0823
Click for more
‘People Are Dying’ - Texas Prisoners Say Heat Wave Turns Cells into Ovens 0723
Big Business Lobbies against Heat Protections for Workers, as US Boils 0723
Exposure to Extreme Heat and Pollution May Double Risk of Deadly Heart Attack 0723
Doctors Treating Spike of Arizona Patients Burned by Falling on the 180° Ground 0723
It’s Scorching in Iran, and There’s Less and Less Water to Help 0723
Heat Can Kill on the Job, and These Workers Are Dying 0723
Europeans Tell of Sleepless Nights and Dizzy Spells in Heat Wave 0723
‘We can’t escape’ - Climate Crisis Is Driving Up Cost of Living in the US West 0723, focus on California.
Sizzling 115°F Heat Is Killing Phones in Italy's Sardinia Island 0723
For Florida’s Hurricane Ian Survivors, Extreme Heat Is a ‘2nd Disaster’ 0723
Houston Confirms 1st Heat Death; Northern Hemisphere Boils in Severe Weather 0723
European Heat Wave Sparks Multiple Warnings, Shuts Greece’s Acropolis 0723
Searing Pavement, Scalding Water Hoses - Perils of a Phoenix Heat Wave 0723
In a Texas City, Heat Proved Deadly Even for Those Long Used to It 0723
Global Heating Ratchets Up the Stress on Farmworkers on the Heat Front Lines 0723
El Niño Is Here and the World Must Prepare for More Extreme Heat, WMO Warns 0723
A Grid Collapse Would Make a Heat Wave Far Deadlier 0623 - For example, 13,000 would die in Phoenix, as 800,000 people just in the city itself would require medical attention, with 4 days with high temperatures above 110°F.
Emergency Room Visits and 911 Calls for Heat Illness Spike in Texas Heat Wave 0623
Texas’s Night Temperatures Portend New, More Dangerous Kind of Heat Wave 0623
Humans Approaching Limits of ‘Survivability’, as Heat Waves Engulf Parts of Asia 0623 - Focus is on India and southeast Asia.
Extreme Heat Is Deadlier than Hurricanes, Floods and Tornadoes Combined 0623
Deaths Rise in India, as Temperatures Soar in Latest Heat Wave 0623
Texas Law Overrides Safeguards like Water Breaks, as Temperatures Rise 0623 - Legislature votes to kill more people, most of all farmworkers.
Climate Set to Push 1/3 of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment 0623
China’s Fatal Heat Shows Risks of Another Scorching Asian Summer 0623
Heat-Related Prison Deaths Are Rising due to Climate Change 0523
Deaths From Heatstroke Rise in Japan, Prompting Countermeasures 0523
Heat Wave and Blackout Would Send Half of Phoenix to E.R., Study Says 0523
Here Are the Places Most at Risk from Record-Shattering Heat 0423
Paris Could Hit 50°C (122°F) by 2050. How Can the City Adapt? 0423
Deadly Heat Threatens the Lives and Livelihoods of 1 Billion People in India 0423
India’s Heat Waves Endanger Development of Most Populous Nation 0423
Why Asia’s Early Heat Wave Is So Alarming 0423
Severe Heat Wave Engulfs Asia, Causing Deaths and Forcing Schools to Close 0423
Untamed Global Warming to Risk Soaring Death Toll in Middle East 0423
Record Heat Waves Push India Closer to Limit of Human Survival 0323
Decades of Logging Tied to Hotter Salmon-Bearing Streams 0323
Will Global Warming Make Temperature Less Deadly? 0223
Extreme Heat Could Put 40% of Land Vertebrates in Peril by 2100 - 0123
Climate Change Threatens Songbird Breeding 0123
Warming Water Threatens Aquatic Life in Chesapeake Bay Region 0123
The World’s Torrid Future Is Etched in the Crippled Kidneys of Nepali Workers 0123
Los Angeles Is Becoming Too Hot to Bear. Can It Design Its Way Cooler? 0123
2022 Articles
‘In Delhi I can see the climate catastrophe unfolding before my eyes.’ 1122
Europe’s Hottest Summer Led to over 23,000 Excess Deaths 1122
Climate Change Made Nepali Jobs in Qatar Building Stadiums More Dangerous 1122
Egypt’s Barren Fields Are Dire Bellwether for Climate Summit 1122
Extreme Heat Could Make Parts of Asia, Africa Uninhabitable in Decades 1022
England’s Hot Summer Pushed Excess Deaths in Elderly to New High 1022
Phoenix Could See Deadliest Year for Heat Deaths, after Sweltering Summer 1022
Chief Heat Officers Face Rising Temperatures — and Expectations 0922
Hotter, More Humid, but Cleaner - How LA’s Air Has Changed 0922
The US Is Measuring Extreme Heat Wrong 0922
Climate Change in Hong Kong Worsens Housing Crisis for City’s Poor 0922
China Reports ‘Most Severe’ Heat Wave and 3rd Driest Summer on Record 0922
The Heat Wave Crushing the West Previews Farmworkers’ Hot Future 0922
Far More People Die from Heat than We Know 0822 - under-diagnosed
Why the Middle East May Be Too Hot to Live In by 2100 - 0822 - High humidity near the ocean. Damn hot is even more true in the future, across the Middle East.
Iraq Broils in Dangerous 120° Heat as Power Grid Shuts Down 0822
The Year Summer Got Serious 0722
UPS Drivers Push for Air Conditioning as Temperatures Soar- ‘People are dropping weekly.’ 0822
High Temperatures Linked to Child Malnutrition in West Africa 0822
Beavers Are Heat Wave Heroes 0722
Brutal Heat from Phoenix to Boston Triggers Alerts for 100 Million 0722
Alarm, as Fastest Growing US Cities Risk Becoming Unlivable from Climate Crisis 0722
London’s Scorching Tube Raises Alarm over Europe’s Brutal Heat 0722
The Year Summer Got Serious 0722
Sweltering Streets - 100s of Homeless Die in Heat 0622
Extreme Heat and Humidity Kill 1,000s of Cattle in Kansas 0622
Climate Change Is Forcing Schools to Close Early for ‘Heat Days’ 0622
Extreme Heat Linked to Rise in US Death Rates 0522
How Marine Heat Waves in Hawaii Have Ripple Effects All the Way to Arizona 0522
Extreme Heat Is a Disease for Cities. Treat It That Way. 0422
Migrant Workers Suffer Heat Stress during Ramadan in Arabian Gulf 0422
India’s Frequent Heat Waves a Reminder of Climate Change Impacts 0322
Extreme Heat Threatens Health in India and Elsewhere 0322
Heatstroke in Pets Likely to Rise due to Climate Change 0222
One of the World’s Wealthiest Oil Exporters Is Becoming Unlivable 0122
Extreme Heat Will Change Us 1222 - health, adaptation, inequality, the future - The story compares laborers and other people in Kuwait and Basra, Iraq. Kuwaiti citizens (but not laborers). Most Kuwaitis avoid going outside. Air conditioning is a rare luxury in Basra (Garden of Eden land), where it got to 164°F on the welder's benchtop and 179°F on a tire swing on a playground. The struggle to sweat and cool off increases risk of kidney stones and kidney disease. The welder's body temperature rose 3°C, a dangerous fever, from the outdoor heat. Chronic dehydration abounds in Basra.
100 Million Americans Will Be in ‘Extreme Heat Belt’ by the 2050s 0822
35°C wet-bulb temperature (gray) is lethal. It depends highly on relative humidity.
2019-2021 Articles
Heat, No Food, Deadly Weather - Climate Change Kills Seabirds 1221
In a Warming World, Deforestation Turns the Heat Deadly, Borneo Study Finds 1121
1 Billion People to Face Deadly Heat Stress if World Warms 2°C 1121
London’s Tube Could Turn Unbearably Hot, Stations Flooded by Climate Change 0921
Effects of Extreme Heat on 10s of Millions of Americans 0821
Haj Pilgrims Face Growing Heat Stroke Risks with Global Warming 0721
Extreme Heat Triggers Mass Die-Offs and Stress for Wildlife in the West 0721
US Workplace Injuries Caused by Heat Are Severely Undercounted 0721
What Record Heat Threat at Tokyo Olympics Means for Future Sporting Events 0721
Hotter and Drier - Deforestation and Wildfires Take a Toll on the Amazon 0721
Biden Administration, Workers Grapple with Heat Threats from Climate Change 0721
How Rising Temperatures Threaten Workers from Nicaragua to Nepal 0721
‘Heat Dome’ Probably Killed 1 Billion Marine Animals on Canada Coast 0721
If You’re Poor, You’re Even Hotter during the Heat Wave 0721 - Lack of money for air condtioners or electricity to run them. Also homelss people
100s Believed Dead in Heat Wave, Despite Efforts to Help 0721
Pacific Northwest’s Deadly Summer Augurs More Heat Waves, Deaths to Come 0721
Extreme Heat Is Killing People in Arizona’s Mobile Homes 0721
Canada Is a Warning - More and More of World Will Soon Be Too Hot for Humans 0621
No One Was Prepared for the Northwest Heat Wave, Especially Not the Animals 0621
Historic Pacific Northwest Heat Wave Has Killed 100s in US, Canada in a Week 0721
100s of Deaths across Canada, Pacific Northwest, amid Unrelenting Heat Wave 0721
Farmworkers Lack Protection from Deadly Heat 0621
What Do More & Earlier 90° Days, Rising Health Toll, Say about Climate Change? 0621
More than 1/3 of Heat Deaths Are Tied to Climate Change 0521
Heat Wave Deaths Set to Soar as UK Summers Become Hotter 0521
Impact of ‘Climate Racism' in the US - Redlining and Urban Heat Islands 0521
Miami's New Chief Heat Officer Urges US to Fight Climate Change’s Silent Killer 0521
Extreme Heat Risks Often Underestimated, Left Out of Major Climate Reports 0521
As Climate Changes, So Will Exercise Habits 0321
Global Warming’s Deadly Combination - Heat and Humidity 0321
Projections of Tropical Heat Stress Constrained by Atmospheric Dynamics 0321
Global Heating Pushes Tropical Regions towards Limits of Human Livability 0321
Arizona’s Heat Deaths Shattered the Record Last Year 0121
Dangerous Heat, Unequal Consequences 0121 - AZ and FL, take 2 on study; more on adaptation
In Florida, Worsening Heat Puts More People at Risk 0121 - FL - take 1 on study
Hotter Planet Already Poses Fatal Risks, Health Experts Warn 1220
Heat Waves Caused Record Deaths as Britain Struggled with Coronavirus 1120
Heat Waves May Be Bad for Your Pregnancy 1120
Climate Change Will Make Parts of the U.S. Uninhabitable. But Americans Are Still Moving There. 1120
Hotter Days Widen Racial (Air Conditioning) Gap in U.S. Schools 1020
We Made This Heat, Now We Cool It 0920
US Cities Could See 13-30 x More Extreme Heat Days by 2100, vs Early 2000s 0820
Rising Temps Could Kill Millions a Year by 2100 - 0820 annually, 73 per 100,000 people - take 1
Rising Temperatures Will Cause More Deaths than All Infectious Disease 0820 - take 2
Life and Death in Our Hot Future Will Be Shaped by Today’s Income Inequality 0820 - take 3
Cities Are Becoming Climate Death Traps 0720
Summers Could Become ‘Too Hot for Humans’ 0720
Humid Heat Extremes on the Rise 0720
Future of the Human Climate Niche Portends Moving 1/3 of Humans to Cooler Areas 0620
The Emergence of Heat and Humidity Too Severe for Human Tolerance 0520
Deadly Heat Is Killing Americans - A Decade of Climate Inaction Puts Lives at Risk 0620
South Asia’s Twin Threat - Extreme Heat and Foul Air 0520
Red Alert for Northern Siberia as Heat Shocks Threaten Life on Tundra 0520
Lethal Wet-Bulb Temperatures Are Already Happening in a Few Places 0520 - recent past, take 1
Billions Could Live in Extreme Heat Zones Within Decades 0520 - nearish future, take 1
In 50 Years, Many Densely Populated Areas Could be Too Hot for Humans 0520- nearish future, take 2
With Temperatures Rising, Can Animals Survive the Heat Stress? 0320
Rising Temperatures Put More US Workers at Risk of Dying from Heat 0120
Arizona Military Base Will Be Hardest Hit by Climate Change 1119
If Emissions Continue, India Could See 1 Million Heat Deaths a Year 1119
Record 2019 Heat Wave Linked to Climate Change Killed 1,500 People in France 0919
Climate Change Isn’t an Intangible Future Risk. It’s Heat Is Here, Killing Us Now. 0819
Extreme Heat Doesn’t Stop the Mail – Even at the Cost of Postal Workers’ Health 0819
Extreme Heat Is Changing Sports, from the Olympics to Local Events 0719
Are Parts of India Becoming Too Hot for Humans? 0719
A Heat Wave Tests Europe’s Defenses. Expect More. 0719
Texas Prisoners in Growing Danger of Dying from No Air Conditioning 0719
California Is So Hot that Mussels Cook in Their Shells and Highways Buckle 0719
1,000s Could Perish Annually in US if Global Heating Not Curbed 0619
Sudden Uptick in Chronic Kidney Disease due to More Extreme Heat? 0519
Too Hot to Live - Millions Worldwide Will Face Unbearable Temperatures 0621 - A MUST read: long, detailed and wide-reaching.
Potentially Fatal Combinations of Humidity and Heat Emerging across the Globe 0520 - take 2.
See wet bulb temperatures. At the original URL (here), zoom in and out for more detail, including all place names, dates, and wet bulb termperatures recorded. Using hourly data insteada of daily average data, it appears that 10 places have already equalled or exceeded the 35°C threshold of human survivability (lethal wet bulb temperature). These include 3 in Mexico, 2 each in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and 1 each in India, Australia, and Venezuela. A wet-bulb temperature calculator is here.
2018 Articles and earlier
Global Warming Will Increase Heat-Related Death and Disease 1118
Climate Change Will Raise Health Risks Even Higher for Florida Outdoor Workers 1018
'It can’t get much hotter ... can it?' How Heat Became a National US Problem 0818
Halfway to Boiling - the City at 50°C - 0818
Adding Up the Cost of Climate Change in Lost Lives 0818
Study Sees Dramatic Rise in Heat Wave Deaths by 2080 - 0718
Chinese Most at Risk of Death from Deadly Heat Waves 0718
'Unprecedented' Japan Heat Wave Kills 65 People in a Week 0718 - 1,000s of hospitalizations
Climate Change Is Cooking Our Workforce 0718
In India, Summer Heat May Soon Be Literally Unbearable 0718
How Heat Waves Can Kill People in Cooler Climates 0718
The Global Heat Wave That's Been Killing Us 0718
Over 1 Billion People Struggle to Stay Cool as Earth Warms 0718
Workers Can Overheat Dangerously at Temperatures below Official Limits 0718
What Happens to Your Body when Heat Waves Kill 0718
Why Hot Summer Nights Getting Hotter Is a Health and Wildfire Risk 0718
Farmers Unable to Cope with Shocks Induced by Climate Change 0518 - Pakistan
Precarious Life of Texas Farmworkers Becomes Riskier with Warming 0418
Are We Ready for the Deadly Heat Waves of the Future? 0418
It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Humidity - Really 0118
How Much Heat Can the Body and Mind Take? 0917
Silent Killer - Sweltering Planet Braces for Deadly Heat Shocks 0917
This Is How Your World Could End - Too Hot for Humans 0917
Deadly Heat Waves Becoming More Common, due to Climate Change 0817 - European Comm., take #1
Weather Disasters to Impact 2 out of 3 Europeans by 2100, Study Says 0817 - European Comm., take #2
How Extreme Could Temperatures Become in Texas? 0817
Climate Change to Cause Humid Heat Waves Killing Even Healthy People 0817 - MIT lead author, take #2
Warming to Boost Deadly Humidity Levels across South Asia 0817 - MIT lead author, take #1
Climate Change Is Killing Us Right Now 0717
Australia Could Suffer from Droughts, Heat Waves as the Tropical Zone Expands 0717
Deadly Heat Waves Could Endanger 3/4 of Mankind by 2100, Up from 1/3 Now 0617
Extreme Heat Wave Days Already Hitting Poorer Nations More than Rich 0317
Why India Is Becoming a Drier, Hotter and Angrier Country 1116
Indian Salt Producers Cope with 48°C Heat 0916
By 2085, Most Cities Could Be Too Hot for the Summer Olympics 0816
Why It’s Hotter Nights, More Than Hotter Days, That Make Heat Waves Dangerous 0816
Soaring Temperatures Will Make It Too Hot to Work, Cost Over $2 Trillion by 2030 - 0716
Climate Change Is Making Farm Work More Dangerous than It Already Is 0716
Sweltering China Tries to Dole Out Subsidies for Working in High Heat 0716
As Temperatures Climb Across the USA, Workers Will Suffer 0716
Without Emissions Cuts, Summer Heat Will Get Even Deadlier 0616 - Africa is hit soonest, hardest.
Africa’s Most Vulnerable Face an Even Hotter Future 0516
Parts of India Ban Daytime Cooking after 100s Die from Heat Wave and Fire 0416
Deadly Heat Wave Is Shattering All-Time Records in Southeast Asia and India 0416
Rising Heat at Work Is Major New Climate Threat 0416
How Indians Are Coping with a Dangerously Hot Summer 0416
South Asian Workers in Gulf Fear Rising Temperature 1215
Heat Stress - the Next Global Public Health Crisis? 1115
Global Warming Could Make Hajj Impossible Later This Century 1015 - take 1
Intolerable, Unimaginable Heat Forecast for Persian Gulf 1015 - take 2
Australian Climate Turns Up Heat on Tennis Stars 0915
California Heat Puts Farm Workers at Risk 0915
Heat Waves Are on the Rise in Algeria, Due to Climate Change 0815
Warming Threatens Our Productivity. More Could Lead to Endless Recession. 0815 Heat stress from 2°C warmer cuts output more than the 2007-9 recession, permanently.
Iran City Hits Suffocating Heat Index of 165°F, near World Record 0715 115°F, 90°F dew point. Almost as bad in nearby places and days.
The Deadly Combination of Heat and Humidity 0615 At a wet-bulb termperature (see table at left) over 80°F, a physically active person has trouble maintaining core body temperature and risks overheating. A sedentary person who is naked and in the shade will run into the same problem at a wet-bulb temperature of 92°F. A wet-bulb temperature of 95°F is lethal after about 6 hours.
Pakistan Heat Wave - Death Toll over 800 in Sindh 0615
Heat Wave in Pakistan's Sindh Province Leaves 120 Dead 0615
The Climate Context for India’s Deadly Heat Wave 0615
Las Vegas 48, Astoria OR 8, Missoula MT 11.
Deadly Combination of Heat and Humidity 0615
Global Warming May Not Be So Great for Plant Life, after All 0615 - gain range near poles, but lose far more in tropics
The Heat and Death Toll Are Rising in India. Is This a Glimpse of Earth’s Future? 0515 - 1,800 people as of May 30
Excessive Heat Threatens Future of Australian Outdoor Summer Sport 0215
Aging Population to Compound Deadly Effects of Worsening Heat Waves 1114
Climate Change Threatens Newest Prescription for Children - Time Outdoors 0914
With Heat and Humidity, Areas Will Become Unsuited for Outdoor Activity 0614
Heat Waves Are the Deadliest Extreme Weather Event - CDC 0813
As Temperatures Rise, Lancaster Farmers Cool Their Cows 0713
Rising Temperatures Increase Health Risks 0513
Warming Will Cut Human Work Capacity - Hugely! 0213 The great heat would make human work capacity drop 37% by 2100 during the hottest summer months. Sustained work would become impossible in the lower Mississippi Valley - worse than Bahrain today. Heat and humidity in Washington DC would be worse than in New Orleans in summer today. Even New York City heat stress would exceed today's Bahrain level by 2200. The effect could be reduced, but not eliminated, by stabilizing CO2 levels soon.
Home Air Conditioning Cut Early Deaths on Hot Days by 80% 1212
Climate Downgrade - Heat Stress 1112
In September 2011, Jim Hansen said "If we stay on with business as usual, the southern U.S. will become almost uninhabitable.” thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/09/29/332369/nasa-hansen-the-southern-u-s-will-become-almost-uninhabitable/
Surge In ‘Danger Days’ Just around the Corner 0815
Portland, ME, Flint, MI & Rochester, NY are set to each go from 0 danger days to more than 60 / year by 2050.
Days above 95°F will roughly triple. (See Figure 1, partly excerpted above.) This includes 75-100 such days a year for southern Illinois (Carbondale, Cairo, Vincennes, plus Decauter) and more than half of Missouri (St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, Joplin, Sedalia, Rolla, Poplar Bluff, Hannibal, etc.) It also includes Evansville IN and sliver of Ohio between Portsmouth and Marietta and Iowa north of Hannibal. This is almost as hot as Las Vegas.
The Midwest in particular will experience rising temperatures, in terms of warmer winters more than unbearable summers. But by the end of the century, the average Midwesterner will likely see 22 to 77 days per year over 95°F, compared to only 3, on average, over the past 30 years.
There is a 5% (or more) chance that 125-150 days a year will exceed 95°F in much the same area (plus Terre Haute and Jasper IN and Effingham IL, but minus Hannibal and Sedalia MO). See the rest of Figure 1 in the report.
These compare to 114 days above 95°F for Las Vegas in 2014, 95 such days in 2013, and 115 in 2012. The southern Midwest can become hotter than Las Vegas by the end of the century (or a little later), if current emission trends continue.
Below at right, Category II probably corresponds to green in the colored table above (THI 90-104°F), Category III to yellow (105-129°F), and Category IV to red (130°F +).
Below, based on current emission trends (maps from Figure 3 in the report), summers in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana grow hotter by 2100 than Texas and Arizona ones today. Iowa and Ohio ones grow as hot as Texas ones now. Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin summers grow almost as hot.
At right, heat stroke days will increase dramatically by the end of the century, from none now. Most of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana would suffer 40-60 days a year of dangerous heat: as bad (hot and humid) as anywhere in Texas. Ohio and Iowa would see 30-50 such days a year.
Worse, all of Illinois - and most of Missouri, Iowa, and Indiana - would experience 10-25 days a year of extremely dangerous heat: hotter (wet bulb) than anywhere in Texas.
In fact, “On our current path, the Midwest will likely see an average of as many as 3 days per year of Category IV conditions, which have never been experienced in the U.S. to date.”
Section Map: Bio Impacts